Nine Billion Dollars. Where Was the AG?

Today the Trump administration held a press conference in Minneapolis to announce another round of fraud charges against Minnesotans who stole from taxpayer funded programs. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood in our city and told the country that fraud in Minnesota could exceed nine billion dollars.

Yesterday, Aimee Bock was sentenced to 41 years in federal prison for orchestrating the Feeding Our Future scheme. Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to feed hungry children, stolen. Federal prosecutors built that case. Federal investigators uncovered the fraud. A federal judge handed down the sentence.

Today, 15 more Minnesotans were charged in connection with 90 million dollars stolen from Medicaid. Again, it was federal prosecutors doing the work.

This pattern should trouble every Minnesotan regardless of party.

The AG Has the Authority. The Question Is Why It Hasn't Been Used.

The Minnesota Attorney General has broad authority under state law to investigate and prosecute fraud. The AG can convene grand juries, issue subpoenas, and bring criminal charges. This is not a question of jurisdiction. It is not a question of legal authority. It is a question of priorities.

While the current AG's office has filed dozens of lawsuits against the federal government and national corporations, fraud enforcement in Minnesota has been left almost entirely to federal prosecutors. The result is a state where billions of dollars have been stolen from programs designed to help the people who need it most, and the state's own chief law enforcement officer has been largely absent from the fight.

That money was supposed to feed children. Protect seniors. Support working families. Those are DFL priorities. And they got looted while our AG was focused on building a national profile.

This Is an Electability Problem

Ellison won by less than one percent in 2022, before the full scope of this crisis was known. He is the most vulnerable DFL statewide incumbent. The Republican candidates in this race will make fraud the centerpiece of their campaign. And they should, because the failure is real.

But the answer is not to hand the office to a Republican for the first time in over 50 years. The answer is to nominate a DFL candidate who can win this argument. A prosecutor with a record of fighting fraud. Someone who can stand on a debate stage, look the Republican nominee in the eye, and say: I have spent my career doing the work you are only now talking about.

What I Will Do Differently

I have spent my career in law enforcement and fraud litigation. As a Captain in the Air Force JAG Corps, I prosecuted criminal cases as a base Chief of Justice. In nearly two decades of private practice, I have represented thousands of Minnesota families in cases involving identity theft, predatory lending, and consumer fraud. I know how these cases are built. I know how to win them.

On day one, I will establish a dedicated Fraud Enforcement Division with experienced prosecutors and investigators whose sole mission is to find fraud, build cases, and hold people accountable. Not a task force that meets quarterly. A permanent division with real authority and real teeth.

We should never again have to wait for Washington to come into our state and do our job for us.

The Convention Is May 29

I am asking DFL delegates to consider what electability looks like in a year when fraud is the dominant issue in Minnesota politics. It looks like a military prosecutor with two decades of consumer protection experience who will make fraud enforcement the top priority of the AG's office.

Minnesota's taxpayers deserve better. Our most vulnerable residents deserve better. And our party deserves a nominee who can actually win.

Dave Madgett
DFL Candidate for Minnesota Attorney General